Saturday, 12 September 2015

Do you remember
Captain James Kirk using his wrist watch to communicate with the crew of the
Starship Enterprise back in 1966?

Today, almost
after 50 years, it has finally become a reality!

Digital disruption is occurring in all business functions all around the world.
Wearables are becoming mainstream and disrupting almost every industry, with
the biggest impact being seen in customer service, healthcare and manufacturing.

Wearables currently
stand at the stage where smartphones were back in 2007. Apple had just launched
iPhone and the App store, but nobody could envision the vast range of
applications that would soon become available. At that point, the iPhone was just
considered to be a better phone, a music repository and a way to browse the web.

That is now a thing
of the past.

Today,
wearables come in various forms, like smart watches, health trackers, Google Glass,
interactive clothing, gesture controllers and list goes on. With wearables, we can
enter into an exciting new realm of augmented reality, with an enhanced
experience of what we see, hear and touch.

Insurers are
using wearables like Google Glass to record claims information in the field in
order to process them faster.

In healthcare,
implanted bio sensors can capture and transmit health data, from heart rate and
blood oxygen levels, to glucose sensors — to help identify risks and make diagnoses.

Smart watches can
alert users when their blood sugar is low or if they have an irregular
heartbeat. With wearables, anyone can carry a personal trainer on their body at
all times.

Here are some other
examples of wearables in our lives today:

ADAMM is a wearable
technology that provides a complete solution for managing your asthma. It collects
data on cough counting, respiration and heart rate, along with medication
reminders provided in an app or online portal for accessing your daily status
from anywhere.

If you or
someone you know suffers from lower back pain, Valedo may
be a solution. The device attaches to a person’s back and uses smart sensors that
communicate with a companion app to guide the user through a series of
therapeutic exercises.

Helius by Proteus
Digital Health is the
first-ever digestible microchip, and is used to detect when a patient takes
their medication. The data is transmitted to a companion app, enabling doctors
and caregivers to tell if the person is taking their prescribed medicines at
the correct time.

Physicians atIndiana
University Health Methodist Hospitalused Google Glass to perform a surgery
to help remove a tumor and reconstruct an abdominal wall. Some hospitals are hoping
to improve training by using wearable cameras to stream and record live
surgeries as seen through the eyes of a surgeon.

Disney has developed the wearable MagicBand,
a wrist band capable of monitoring visitors and collecting data about their
behavior in theme parks. It also enables visitors to pay for food or
merchandise, access hotel rooms, manage tickets, and skip the lines at popular
attractions.

Nymi is a biometric security wristband that could
someday replace all your passwords and keys.

These
wearables have the potential to make our lives healthy, more secure, and more
convenient — but there are a number of challenges which need to be resolved soon.

Sooner or later, all of us are
identified by the data we generate, and wearables represent a quantum leap in
the type and quantity of data collected — which is both an interesting and a scary
proposition.

As wearables become more mainstream, consumers need to be
aware of what data is shared,
which third parties have access to it, and what they will do with that
information.